Yours truly has been all about myself of
late, which is why I am behind on record reviews and most everything
else, but I do have a new batch of recordings, starting with
"Betty from Memphis", a tribute to stable types such as
my actual Aunt Betty (Olita) in Memphis (not shown here), as well as to
all those weary road warriors out there playing the soundtracks to
everybody else's movies.
Call it
"creative destruction", like Mitt Romney does. "Until Sam
Walty's Dead" is a cowboy yarn about a villain -
personified by the late and wonderful Warren Oates (below) - who
has left an unfortunate legacy for himself (see chorus...). Walty is my
metaphor for early 21st Century predatory capitalism, a force that must
be dealt with so that honest souls can carry on.
Glory be unto Angie Omaha, whoever
she is, pictured below on the cover to my next- generation version of
"The Glow
of Your Dark Eyes", introduced several years back
as a tune about "the dark side of loving a dark soul". Our girl Angie
may not let me exploit her in this way for long, but as long as she does
isn't she perfect? I mean, for this song?
"Just Eleven
Minutes" comes from a few years back, and from the same
box as "The Glow of Your Dark Eyes", but the versions provided below
come much closer to my ambitions for this story of a booze-fueled
cuckold speeding toward a crime of passion and revenge. The song is
almost entirely played around the single chord of E, with occasional
transitions through A-B, for those keeping score. The "psycho" version
was the original inspiration, but the Nashville chicken-pickin' version
has some nice qualities. Unfortunately it also shows that as a guitar
player I am no Randy Barker, though I hope to be when I grow up.
(Randy Barker played with Michael Woody and
the Too High Band, which in the end gave him way too little
exposure, but those who heard him play remember it even 30 years later
as something special.)
__________
IN THIS EDITION
Icon
Power- RAR waxes on the powerfully unique qualities that
trigger our emotional responses
The
Edited Trio - Douglas Strobel offers a House Concert Review
Lookout!
Records - Video tribute to Berkeley's iconic punk music
label, now ending its historic run
New Releases on
RARadio:
"Darkness" by
Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread"
by Simian
Mobile Disco and "Keep You"
from Actress
off the Chronicle movie
soundtrack;"Goodbye to Love" from
October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011
label sampler;
Black Box Revelation Live on
Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking Violet";
Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get
Along"; Dana deChaby's
progressive rock
The Editors
- Tom Smith (lead vocals, rhythm guitar,
piano), Chris Urbanowicz (lead guitar,
synthesizer), Russell Leetch (bass guitar,
backing vocals) and Ed Lay (drums,
percussion) - are a group of music pros who have previously been known by other
band names such as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield. They are a testosterone-laced
techno-rock band that bears similarity in approach to such as Echo & the
Bunnymen. Editors have so far released two platinum studio albums, and three in
total, whilst selling over several million copies between them worldwide. Their
debut album The Back Room was released in 2005. It contained hits "Munich" and
"Blood" and the following year received a Mercury Prize nomination. Their
follow-up album An End Has a Start went to number 1 in the UK Album Chart in
June 2007 and earned the band a Brit Awards nomination for best British Band. It
also spawned another Top 10 hit single with the release of "Smokers Outside the
Hospital Doors". The band's third album, In This Light and on This Evening, was
released in October 2009, which went straight to number 1 in the UK Album Chart
and received critical acclaim particularly throughout Europe. In addition, their
song "The Weight Of The World" was featured in an episode of Chuck entitled
"Chuck Versus the Sandworm" (Episode 1.6). Chuck plays it on his radio for Sarah
as they discuss their relationship. Alongside their critical acclaim and strong
success in the charts, Editors have consistently enjoyed sold out tours and
numerous headlining festival slots.
___________________________________
Art Brut -
Fall Down Funny Drunk
Why are the British so much funnier than the rest of
us?- RAR
_________________
Camera Obscura
"When you're lucid you're the
sweetest thing..."
Camera Obscura
was formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John
Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the
band before David Skirving joined as a
permanent guitarist. The band's first releases were the singles "Park and Ride"
and "Your Sound" in 1998. The band's line-up changed in 2000 and 2001 when
Lee Thompson joined as its permanent
drummer, Lindsay Boyd joined as a keyboard
player, and Skirving left and was replaced by Kenny
McKeeve. On April 18, 2009 Camera Obscura released a special edition
Record Store Day 7” called, French Navy for independent record stores.
______________
Blood Red Shoes
Bloody bleeding ears! In a nice
way...
Brighton bandmates
Steven Ansell and
Laura-Mary Carter, who
comprise the foundation of Blood Red
Shoes, formed the band in late 2004 after stints in
earlier bands. The band drew inspiration for its name from a
Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire musical, in which Ginger Rogers had
turned a pair of white dancing shoes red with blood due to the
amount of dancing she had done practicing for the role. The band
cite a large swathe of US-based underground punk and rock music
as their primary influence, drawing inspiration from Babes in
Toyland, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Q and not U, Pixies,
Fugazi and Sonic Youth, although they also regularly highlight
English artists Blur and PJ Harvey as music heroes.The band
frequently distance themselves from current English guitar music
and consider themselves to be a punk band, in ethos and
attitude, if not in their immediate musical style. Blood Red
Shoes deal with themes of frustration, anger, alienation,
boredom, doubt, psychosis, confusion, escape and ultimately the
hope of freedom or change, in their lyrics. The band openly
support anti-fascist campaigns such as Love Music Hate Racism,
contributing on the second CD of the 2007 LMHR compilation album
with the track "Can't Find the Door",[4] and have also played
the feminist festival Ladyfest in the past.
ATTACK! ATTACK!
U.K. TO RELEASE
‘THE LATEST FASHION’ IN JUNE - Band Plans To Tour U.S. For First Time In Support
Of Album
Welsh
rock quartet Attack! Attack! U.K. will be releasing their new album, “The Latest
Fashion,” in the U.S. via Rock Ridge Music on June 21, 2011. “It’s not about how
tight your jeans are, how slick your hair is or how many tattoos you have,” says
lead singer/guitarist Neil Starr. “It’s about the music, plain and simple.” The
band, who has only performed in the U.S. once before (at SXSW in 2009), plans to
unleash its live music experience on American audiences in support of the new
album as well. Tour dates will be announced soon.
With
eleven songs that go in your ears and bounce around your cranium all day (and
then provide the soundtrack to your dreams that night), “The Latest Fashion”
seamlessly blends soaring melodies, surging riffs and shout-’em-out-loud
choruses: tunes that will rock out on the radio perfectly next to the Foo
Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Rise Against. The chiming, anthemic “Blood on my
Hands” was inspired by Starr’s recent fatherhood. “It’s about responsibility and
living up to your obligations,” says the singer. “Consider it a reminder that
people count on you.” Another standout track is the relentless rocker and first
single, “Nemesis.” “Everyone has one,” explains Starr. “I am my own worst enemy.
If anyone’s going to bring me down, it’s me.” “The Latest Fashion” was recorded
in Cardiff, Wales, in the summer of 2010 with acclaimed producer Romesh
Dodangoda (Motörhead, Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine) at the
helm. The sessions were relatively relaxed compared to the intense 10-day
marathon that gave rise to the band’s 2008 self-titled debut, which was produced
by their old friend and Lostprophets bassist Stuart Richardson.
“Attack! Attack! U.K.” earned raves on both sides of the pond. The band was
nominated as best newcomer in the Welsh Music Awards. Alternative Press called
their album “a terrific melodic rock knockout.” NME trumpeted: “The entire
history of British post-hardcore has been building towards Attack! Attack!
[UK].” Kerrang! declared that their music “pack[s] enough pop-rock punch to
leave you reeling for days.” The venerable metal mag also nominated the
four-piece in the Best British Newcomer category at the 2009 Kerrang! Awards. Q
Magazine named them one of the 10 best new acts in the world following their
SXSW performance in 2009. PopMatters.com deemed them “a very good attack
indeed,” while Wonkavision called their record “a short, sharp, up-tempo album
awash in catchy melodies and hook-lined choruses that will have you singing
along in seconds.” In the UK, DJs Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley championed the band,
while in the States, they got lots of airplay love from the Faction channel on
SiriusXM, and the band’s songs received coveted placement on 90210 and in Guitar
Hero 5.
Attack!
Attack! U.K. hit the road in support of their debut with headlining tours and in
high-profile support slots for Funeral For A Friend, Lostprophets and Aiden, as
well as performances at both the Reading and Leeds Music Festivals. Every night,
the four-piece worked its hardest to prove that it deserved the break it had
been given. “Our shows are full of energy and passion,” says Starr. “We want
people to sweat and have fun, because that’s what we do on stage.”
For more information, please contact: Krista
Mettler/Skye Media & Rock Ridge Music - publicity@rockridgemusic.com
The Pigeon Detectives
The Pigeon Detectives
deserve greater fame just on the strength of their name, not
to mention the iconic rock nature of their presentation. The
Rothwell, West Yorkshire boys have been banging it out since
2004, and have performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals
in 2006, where they were tagged "the band most likely to
leap to the main stage in 2007 in an NME review. However,
the band returned to the festivals in 2007 and again
performed on the NME stage" - this from their Wikipedia
site. Oh well, things got bigger and better. "They went on
to perform their biggest show ever at Oxegen (sic) 2008
which was beamed around Europe on MTV." They seem in odd lot
to be singing about American things. Check out the video.-RAR
_______
The Pipettes
Okay, so admittedly the first many
times I heard this song I thought she was accusing her ex of being "an
empty juicer", which in a lot of ways is more interesting than what he
actually turned out to be. You can watch the video to figure it all out.
The Pipettes are a U.K.-version of the sort of pop factory approach that
has been in play since Motown and before and continues to produce
mega-acts such as Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. The Svengali for this outfit
is singer-songwriter-guitarist "Monster Bobby"
Barry, who had the support of a record label and has since
gone through a bevy of female frontpersons en route to where The
Pipettes stand today, as Gwenno Saunders
"and her sister Ani". Not
sure why Ani gets the short shrift there, but that seems to be the
accepted way for now. If the band's future plays out as has its past,
that'll change. The female members are backed by all-male band,
The Cassettes, which at present
includes Monster Bobby, the Falcone brothers;
Jon and Seb, and Alex White.
- RAR
Winter in Eden
Staying Warm with Vicky
Johnson
Fueled by the pitch-perfect and soulful
Vicky Johnson,
Winter in Eden is a Gothic symphonic
rock collective that lays some very heavy metallic lines under some
rather polysynthetic classical gas. It wouldn't mean much if the songs
weren't so strong.
Says band leader Sam Cull, "Musically,
Vicky is fantastic. Her vocal melody lines are always fitting to the
music, but not always the obvious, and so she keeps everything
interesting. She’s never short of ideas and is very passionate about how
she feels a song should develop (always good for keeping myself in order
as I have a tendency to go off on a tangent at times). As mentioned
earlier Vicky is also a classically trained pianist, and is always full
of ideas to add to the keyboards or a guitar melody.
"Lastly, but most definitely not least,
is her voice. Vicky has a very interesting and unique voice with a lot
of body and an instantly recognisable tone. If you hear the vocal, you
can tell it’s a Winter In Eden track! Of all the things Vicky brings to
the table, her voice is most definitely her greatest asset and live she
never puts a note wrong which is just incredible!
"Without Vicky there would not be a
Winter In Eden, it’s a simple as that."
______________
The Laynes
The Laynes came to our
attention a few years back when they were involved in a
dispute with the BBC over a trademark issue. They may have
lost - that would have been a gross miscarriage of justice -
but all that changed was their name.
The Laynes are one of the best bar bands anywhere, a
balls-out quartet of earnest Scots who demonstrate a deep
devotion to the music of their heroes: The Kinks, The
Beatles, the Merseys in general. Now they are back with an
EP and a second album as The Laynes is
expected in early 2012. -RAR